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With Bucs cornerbacks Benjamin Morrison and Jacob Parrish sidelined for the first padded practice, undrafted rookie Ayden Garnes took advantage of every first-team rep. While some are understandably waving the caution flag about the room’s outlook, Garnes has been a bright spot.

Last week, head coach Todd Bowles mentioned him as someone he was going to be watching closely.

“[He has] very good cover skills – very good cover guy for a corner that small,” Bowles said. “He’s got great feet. He’s got very good instincts, so I want to see him in pads as well.”

Garnes did not disappoint in his first padded practice, and he spoke with Pewter Report after practice about how he is adjusting and earning the confidence of Tampa Bay’s defensive play-caller.

Ayden Garnes Was A Big Part Of Bucs’ Defensive Dominance On Monday

The theme of Monday’s Bucs training camp practice was how there was nowhere to run.

The defensive line did not give up anything, while the inside linebackers (mainly Josiah Trotter with three tackles for loss) wreaked havoc behind the line of scrimmage. When it came to the secondary, both Zyon McCollum and Ayden Garnes contributed to the unit’s dominance.

Bucs CB Ayden Garnes – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

From Garnes’ perspective, the group is focused on stacking days after forcing several turnovers during Sunday’s practice.

“We are just staying together, even through the adversity we had [on Monday with the rain],” Garnes told Pewter Report. “Just continue to stay together and get better every day. Like [Sunday], turnovers. We wanted to make turnovers. Today, it was just consistently putting together good days. That’s all we can ask for.”

Garnes recorded his first interception of camp during one-on-ones, capitalizing on an errant Baker Mayfield throw intended for wide receiver Kameron Johnson. While it did not come during team drills, Garnes said it counts all the same.

“I count it myself; the DB room counts it,” Garnes joked. “I take that as a rep, because obviously that can be a regular one-on-one rep – 3×1 away and I’m by myself – that can actually happen. I take those as something I can put into team [scrimmages]. I know it’s coming to come; I’m not going to go out there and jump for it and try to make a mistake. I know it’s going to come in 11-on-11s.”

Not only that, but when it came to 11-on-11 work, Garnes made a physical play that showed he is not afraid to stick his nose into a tackle.

Wrapping up 6-foot-4 rookie wide receiver Ted Hurst is no easy task, but the 5-foot-11 Garnes brought him down just short of the goal line and discussed how they have been competing against one another.

“It’s fun,” Garnes said about their back-and-forth. “Just going against him in one-on-ones, and I know we’re both rookies, so we like to compete a lot. Sometimes he gets the best of me, sometimes I get the best of him. That’s good we’re having those types of battles and he’s that type of caliber player that’s good enough to make those plays. I made that play; I was in trail. Made the play, tried to get it out and didn’t get it out, but they were short and we live another day.”

Ayden Garnes Is Building Confidence And Learning From Mistakes

Todd Bowles has shown in the past he is not afraid to throw rookie defensive players in the fire.

The most extreme example was starting undrafted free agent Christian Izien at nickel during the 2023 season. Izien handled the responsibility well, and that preceded a wave of rookies filling that spot after him (Tykee Smith, Jacob Parrish, and now Keionte Scott).

Ayden Garnes is in a different boat playing at cornerback, but in a young room filled with uncertainty, Bowles has given him an extended look with the first team and allowed him to experience growing pains.

Bucs CBs Ayden Garnes, Jacob Parrish, Benjamin Morrison, Josh Hayes, Keionte Scott and Demarion Williams – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

“It comes from time,” Garnes said about earning Bowles’ confidence in him. “As soon as I got here, I tried to put my head down and just continue to learn by these guys. I know these guys have been in the league a long time — we have people that’s been here six, seven, eight years. Just learning from those guys and taking a little bit out of each day and putting it into practice and not making the same mistake. That’s how he can trust me. I know he does let me make mistakes and let me come back and fix those mistakes. That’s just what I continue to build on every day.”

Mistakes will come, especially as Garnes makes the jump from the college ranks to the pros. There was a play last week where he got burned by wide receiver Emeka Egbuka on a deep ball. Despite giving up that play, he took it as a moment to grow and realizing he will have some help on the back end next time.

“I know things are going to happen because DB is the hardest position in the game,” Garnes said on taking the ups with the downs. “Some bad things are going to happen but just continuing to take those and reflect on it and build upon it. Like the other day, Emeka beat me on a post corner. That’s probably not going to happen again because I got a middle-of-the-field safety. I can stay outside, roll it, and I’ll be in perfect position the next time I get that route.”

Right now, Ayden Garnes is vying for one of the last cornerback spots on the Bucs’ roster. It is an open competition behind the trio of Zyon McCollum, Benjamin Morrison, and Parrish. Among the players behind them, Garnes has stood out the most. Not only is he the youngest, but he has shown to this point nothing has been too big for him.

The preseason is the next measuring stick, but so far Garnes has stood tall in camp.